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Looking back: 100 years at Glen elementary school in Coquitlam

On Friday, May 30, Glen elementary school in Coquitlam will celebrate its 100th birthday with a special event. In preparation, Luciano Stella’s Grade 4 and 5 students have been studying how their school has changed over the years. From writing tablets to tablet computers and wireless communication, Glen has undergone a dramatic transition. At right are some of the changes Stella compiled...

1913/1914

• The original Glen school was a one-room schoolhouse with 13 students aged six to 14 years, with a single teacher overseeing multiple grades.

• It had a well pump and there was no electricity so kerosene gas lamps were used.

• Outhouses stood out the back and, to keep warm, students and the teacher kept the wood furnace going; firewood was stored in the basement.

• In wintertime, the kids would hang up their coats and mitts to dry by the furnace.

• The Lord’s Prayer began the school day for students.

• In the spring of 1914, Glen had an Arbor Day and pupils planted a row of trees along the front of the one-acre property.

• The eldest pupils took turns raising and lowering the Canadian flag every school day.

• Students studied geography, spelling, grammar, writing, mathematics, British history, Canadian history and nature.

• The first teacher was Miss L.C. Howe and she earned $65 per month; she used a blackboard for her lessons.

• Students used small chalkboards and writing tablets; quill pens and inkwells were used; hand-writing was considered very important.

• Students sat in wooden desks in rows.

• Corporal punishment — the strap — was used and teachers were strict.

• Students would walk on gravel roads to school on their own and had to look out for bears and deer.

• At home the students had chores; students who lived on farms looked after the chickens, cows, pigs and other animals.

• Students listened to records played on a gramophone, watched silent movies at theatres in New Westminster and learned how to tell time on analog clocks and had watches.

2013/2014

• The fifth Glen school is a French immersion school with 20 classrooms (12 English and eight French immersion) and 482 students from kindergarten to Grade 5.

• Glen has a principal, vice-principal, secretary, 32 teachers and 17 support staff.

• It also has three bathrooms each for girls and boys, a library, gym, multi-purpose room, computers, internet, elevator, photocopier, a radiant floor heating system, a security system and sprinkler system.

• Some students walk to school on their own and many are either walked or driven to school.

• Students listen to music played on radios, iPods, CD Players, iPads and laptop computers.

• Students watch educational videos and movies on televisions with DVD players, laptop computers and online.

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